Universal stop pin for head protective equipment



March 4, 1969 v w. E. NEWCOMB 3,430,263

UNIVERSAL STOP PIN FOR HEAD PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT Filed July 19, 19s? F l e. 42

F I 4 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM E. NEWC-OMB ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pivotal bolt is keyed to an arm carrying a fixed stop means and the bolt is received in an aperture in head protective equipment that includes a head encircling strap assembly which is mounted on the pivotal bolt, and a stop member having a portion to engage the strap assembly and another portion engaging the fixed stop means.

Background of the invention This invention relates to the field of head protective equipment of the face shield or welders mask type as, for example, a welders helmet as shown in the Lindblom Patent 3,075,201. Welding helments and face shields ordinarily include head bands and crown straps that are adjustable to accurately fit the head of a particular wearer. This head gear is pivotally mounted to the helmet and frictional devices are ordinarily associated with this mounting so that the protective mask will remain in either an up position or may be swung downwardly into the face protecting position. From a practical standpoint a user will often adjust the frictional device so that by merely shaking his head the mask will fall downwardly and thus a stop has to be provided to limit the downward motion so that the mask will not strike the chest of the wearer. It has been quite common in the industry to utilize a stop means which is elfectively coupled to the head gear and also is adjustably connected to the face mask or helmet. For example, in the Lindblom Patent 3,075,201 the adjustable stop consists of arm 33 which has a plurality of apertures 36 which engage a stop pin 37 that is physically located on the helmet. In the replacement market there are different types of welders helmets and face masks which themselves do not wear out but oftentimes the head gear needs to be replaced. There is no universal position for the stop pin or stop engagement means on the welders helmet, various manufacturers using different length arms which makes it awkward at times to provide a replacement head gear that will fit masks that are made by other manufacturers. The one common element that exists between Welders helmets of various manufacturers is the aperture that passes through the welding helmet or face mask which is either rectangular or oblong. Accordingly, with this being a common element, the instant invention makes use of this fact and provides a separate stop engagement means which will couple either directly to the rectangular aperture in the helmet or through use of an oblong cross section pivot bolt and thus will be totally independent for operation of the physical placement of the stop pin.

Summary In head protective equipment a universal stop pin is mounted on an arm which is keyed to an aperture in a face protective member. The stop pin cooperates with a stop arm which has a portion that is adapted to engage the pin, the stop arm being generally pivotally related about the pivot means of the helmet and head gear connection and having means associated therewith to limit 3,430,263 Patented Mar. 4, 1969 the degree of rotation of the head gear relative to the mask.

Description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a fragmental portion of the headband showing the stop assembly in operative position and with the tension nut, spring and washer removed;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on lines 22 of FIG. 1 and showing the tension nut spring and washer;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on lines 3 3 of FIG. 1 and showing the tension nut spring and washer; and

FIG. 3A is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 of the pivot assembly mounted in head gear having an oblong aperture;

FIG. 3B is a partial sectional view taken on lines 3B-- 3B of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the parts of the pivotal mounting between the head gear and the face shield showing the relationship of the parts with the face shield and the head gear in fragmental illustrative form.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown in broken phantom a welding helmet that is designated 10, and this helmet is provided with an opening 11 of rectangular form through which passes a pivot bolt 12 having a head 13 that engages an anchoring strap 14 that is part of the adjustable head gear that comprises not only a head encircling strap but also a crown strap which both are well known to those skilled in the art and which construction forms no part of this invention. On the outer face of the mask 10 is a washer 15 (see FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) and encircling the bolt 12 is a compression spring 16 which engages the washer 1'5. A nut 17 is received on the threads of the bolt 12 and engages spring 16 which is forced against washer 15 to press it against mask 10.

A stop bracket 28 of conventional configuration has a cylindrical aperture 29 to be pivotally received about the enlarged section 23 of the bolt 12, and this bracket is provided with an abutment flange 30 which is adapted to engage the edge 31 of the crown strap 14. Arranged radially with respect to the opening 29, are engagement means that are shown as a plurality of apertures 32 which are formed in the bracket 28, the number of apertures determining the number of positions of adjustment to which the :bracket may be moved. The universal stop pin assembly comprises an arm 20 which is provided with a pin 35 which is received in one of the apertures 32. The arm 20 is keyed to the opening 11 by protruding lips 21 and the bolt 12 is in turn keyed to opening 11 by flattened portions 24 that engage the inner walls of lips 21 about aperture 22. Bolt 12, bracket 28, arm 20, helmet 10 and washer 15 are keyed together for rotation and thus pressure developed by spring 16 acts on strap 14 which is squeezed between head 13 and bracket 28. It will also be appreciated that the bracket 28 may be moved with respect to the arm 20 so as to change the relative angular position of the abutment flange 30 and thus adjust the limit or degree of movement of the head protective gear with respect to the adjustable head gear that encircles the head of the wearer.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3A the pivot assembly including the stop pin assembly, is illustrated in connection with a helmet 10 having an oblong aperture 11A that closely fits the cross-sectional shape of the enlarged section 23 of bolt 12. The arm 20 is keyed to :bolt 12 by the interfit of aperture 22 and thus positive locking or arm. 20 is had relative to the helmet 10.

In operation, the desired amount of friction is imparted to the pivoting relationship shown by tightening or loosening the nut 17 to create pressure against the strap 14.

The helmet 10 may be swung in the direction of the arrow 40 (see FIGS. 1 and 4) so that the helmet is in the non-face protecting position, and when it is desired to have the mask in face protecting position it may be moved downwardly in the reverse direction of the arrow 40 which movement will be limited by abutment of the flange 30 with the portion 31 of the strap 14.

I claim:

1.. In head protective equipment including head gear members having an anchoring strap, a pivot bolt and a face covering member pivotally mounted on said strap by said pivot bolt, the face covering member having an opening with keying means through which said pivot bolt passes, a stop bracket pivotally mounted on said pivot bolt and having an abutment means adapted to engage a means associated with at least one of the anchoring straps, said stop bracket having engagement means, that improvement which consists of an enlargement on the pivot :bolt, a stop arm having an aperture, said pivot bolt passing through said aperture, said enlargement on the pivot bolt keyed to said aperture, said arm carrying mating means for interlocking with said engagement means for holding the stop in adjusted position relative thereto, said pivot bolt having keying engagement with the opening in the head protective member.

2. Structure as in claim 1 wherein said stop bracket has a plurality of apertures and means on said arm engages one of said apertures.

3. Structure as in claim 1 wherein said opening in said face covering member is rectangular and wherein said stop arm carries keying means about its aperture, said keying means including at least one lip having a fiat side engaging in said rectangular opening in said face coverin g member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,461,604 2/1949 Huntsman 28 2,658,200 11/1953 Bowers 28 2,973,522 3/1961 Edwards et al. 2.8 3,075,201 1/1963 Lindblom 28 JAMES R. BOLER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PIVOTAL BOLT IS KEYED TO AN ARM CARRYING A FIXED STOP MEANS AND THE BOLT IS RECEIVED IN AN APERTURE IN HEAD PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT THAT INCLUDES A HEAD ENCIRCLING STRAP ASSEMBLY WHICH IS MOUNTED ON THE PIVOTAL BOLT, AND A STOP MEMBER HAVING A PORTION TO ENGAGE THE STRAP ASSEMBLY AND ANOTHER PORTION ENGAGING THE FIXED STOP MEANS. 